The importance of mentoring for the future of the mortgage industry 

Mentoring has traditionally always meant working with someone in a more senior role to help you to progress your career. This is helpful for getting the benefit of their experience, identifying particular gaps in your knowledge or skills, as well as learning from an expert in a particular area to learn from them and identify how you can develop - to perhaps progress like they have.

However, there are other very useful ways of employing mentoring which are not as commonly discussed or used. Reverse mentoring, for example, is a concept which acknowledges that everyone (no matter the level they have reached in their career) has valid experiences they can share to help others with knowledge gaps or education. Even if you’re a leader or a senior leader, there are always others out there who can help you to grow.

Why it matters

Mentoring is something that has been of great importance to me for a number of reasons. I have always believed that, as you progress your career there are always people out there who can help you to learn and develop along the way. I personally have benefitted from this, and its advantages are two-fold – it’s not what you can learn yourself, but hopefully how you can help others on their own journey.

It is also a tool that can be used time and time again. I’ve worked with many people I’ve been able to reach out to and have confidential conversations with – and also to bounce ideas off - over the course of my career. I’m always confident that I can go back to those people for an honest and objective conversation should I ever need to, and I have done so over the years. This has been invaluable for my growth and development.

Using reverse mentoring has also really helped me learn from people who have very different experience to me – it’s helped me to widen my understanding of challenges they face - and has filled gaps where I didn’t understand those areas well. For example, speaking to those who have experience of mental health challenges or who are of different ethnicity has helped me to become a better and more rounded leader, and I’m now at a stage where I’m able to use mentoring as a means to support others by sharing my own knowledge and experience and helping others to progress.

Have a purpose and find out how

If you’re considering embarking on a mentoring journey – the first thing to do is to work out what it is you want to know – what’s your knowledge or skills gap? Once you’ve identified this, it’s about finding someone who can plug that gap for you. This might be someone unfamiliar or even someone you don’t know yet – this isn’t an issue because it needs to be the right person who can help you to complete your objective – and this might not necessarily be about career progression – for example, you might have a desire to understand DE&I issues, so make sure you identify this up front.

It might seem tricky for smaller firms to look to integrate mentoring into their business model. For larger organisations like Accord, there is a ‘formal route’ to access mentoring via a matching platform to find a suitable mentor, mentee, or both. However, there are other free to access sources out there, such as the Working in Mortgages initiative hosted by IMLA & AMI – a website linking people in the mortgage industry and helping them to build networks and find support.

Looking outside your own network can be another useful tool. There might be someone in your team or your own business who can help. Alternatively, someone in your own external network – if you’re a broker, this could be one of your lender contacts for example - who would be prepared to spend some time helping you to build your knowledge. The key here is not to be afraid of reaching out - asking for mentoring support is not a weakness – it shows you’re looking to improve - and people respect and value that.

Prioritise yourself

However, there’s no doubt that stepping back from the day to day to make time for personal development can be a challenge. Like anything – you need the discipline to prioritise yourself and to take a step back from the ongoing task list. Keep in mind that, if you want to develop, your business should support you, because personal development will reap benefits in the long-term for both yourself and your organisation. 

My new Mortgage Mentors podcast series on this very topic was born on the back of the desire to motivate and inspire those climbing the career ladder today, by sharing the stories of how those of us in senior positions in the industry, got here. 

The stories from the highly respected leaders I’ve interviewed are varied – and their paths are not as obvious as people might think. Many of them have arrived at success in a variety of different ways. Some have left school with few qualifications – but they have applied themselves afterwards to arrive at where they are today. 

Crucially, they all speak of mentors who have helped them along the way. My goal is to see the stories behind careers and de-mystify the successes they have had – to help people realise that they can do it too – with the right motivation – and the right support behind them, because empowering those climbing the career ladder today is paramount to securing the future of the industry.